gape
gape Lexical Profile
gape Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To stare openly and stupidly with the mouth wide open, typically in amazement or wonder.
"Tourists stopped on the sidewalk to gape at the towering glass skyscraper."
To be or become wide open, exposing a deep space or cavity.
"The heavy wooden doors began to gape after the rusted latch gave way."
• noun
An open-mouthed stare of wonder, surprise, or amazement.
"The magician's final illusion left the children in the front row with a wide gape of astonishment."
A wide opening, breach, or gap in a surface or structure.
"A sudden shift in the bedrock left a deep gape across the ancient stone wall."
The physiological width or expanse of the open mouth or beak, especially in young birds.
"The brightly colored gape of the nestling stimulates the parent bird to deliver food."
• Rhymes for gape
Word Origin & Etymology
Middle English, from Old Norse gapa ('to open the mouth wide, yawn'), derived from Proto-Germanic *gapōną and related to the noun gap.